Edgar c



(No Model.)

-E-. 0. ROSA. VESTIBULE OONNEGTION FOR PASSENGER CARS.

Patentd Dec. 1 3, 1892.

UNTTED STATES PATENT EEIcE.

EDGAR O. ROSA, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, ROBERT VIERLING, AND LOUIS VIERLING, OF SAME PLACE.

VESTIBULE CONNECTION FOR PASSENGER-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 487,776, dated December 13, 1892.

Application filed April 9, 1891. Serial No. 388,340. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDGAR 0. Bean, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and Improved Vestibule Connection for Railway Passenger- Oars, of which the followingis a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of the end of a passenger-car having my improved connection. Fig. 2 is a top or plan View; and Fig. 3 is a detail, being a horizontal section of a stanchion, showing the manner of attaching my improved connection to the frame of a vestibule.

vestibule-cars as heretofore constructed have been provided with a bellows or accordion like attachment which is secured to the face-plate of the vestibule at the end of each car in such manner that the two attachments upon the contiguous ends of cars will lie close together when the cars are coupled, thus forming a continuous closed passage-way between the successive carsin the train. This method of forming a connection between the ends of the cars is objectionable, for the reason that it is expensive and does not form a tight connection. This construction is also rather complex and is lacking in durability.

The objectof my invention is to providean improved connection for vestibule-cars, which will be simple and inexpensive in construc tion and which may easily and quickly be attached to ordinary railroad-cars. I accomplish this object as hereinafter described, and as illustrated in the drawings.

That which I regard as new will be set forth in the claims.

In the drawings, A represents a railroad-car which is provided with a vestibule B, as best shown in Fig. 1. The car A and vestibule B maybe of any approved construction, as they form no part of my present invention. The vestibule B is provided at or near the edge of the platform O of the car with a framework D, which is preferably composed of st-anchions d, secured at their lower ends in the platform and at their inner edges to the vestibule B in any suitable manner. The frameworkD may be of any suitable shape to form a passageway-as, for instance, it may be curved at the top, as shown in the drawings, or of any other approved pattern. The stanchions (1 may be arranged in pairs, a pair being placed at each side of the passage-way, as best shown in Fig. 2, and are beveled or inclined on their outer edges, as best shown in Fig. 3, to permit of the proper adjustment of the flexible connection. If desired, the framework D may be made of a single piece of iron or Wood.

E indicates a flexible connection which is adapted to close the space between the ends of adjacent vestibules. The connection E is formed of rubber or other elastic sheets of suitable thickness, which are bent into a tubular shape, as indicated in Fig. 3, and are secured at their edges to the inclined edges of the stanchions d, as shown in Fig. 3, the angle of the inclines on the stanchions d preferably being such that the tubular portion of the connection E may be easily compressed, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3. The edges of the connections E are secured to the stanchions d by means of screws 6 or in any other suitable manner. By reason of the fact that the edges of the connections E are secured to the stanchions d at an angle, as shown, the tubular portion of the connection may be much more readily compressed, and the elasticity of the tubular portion is alsoimproved. The connection E extends around the frame Work D at the end of each vestibule, as shown in Fig. Land is similarin shape to said framework. The connection E'projects beyond the edge of the platform Oof each car sufficiently to meet the connection E upon the next car and to remain in contact with it when the cars are at an angle with each other, as when rounding a curve. 'When two cars are coupled together, the'connections E on each car are in contact with each other, and when the cars are in the same straight line the connections E are compressed equally, as shown in Fig. 2. WVhen the cars are roundingacurve, the connections on the inner side of the curve will be compressed much more and those on the outer side of the curve will be free to expand almost to the shape shown in Fig. 3. The connectionsEshould be made of such size that they will not become separated by the passing of the cars around any ordinarycurve.

The use of this connection has a tendency to prevent the rocking of the cars when runningrapidly, as the friction between the adjacent connections is such that it tends to modify the motion of each car by that of the other cars to which it is connected, thereby greatly decreasing the rocking of the several cars.

My construction also presents an improved bearing-surface for the connections of adjacent cars, as the connections are adapted to be compressed laterally by the lateral motion of the ends of the cars when roundingabend, and thereby the friction and wear incident to the plates of vestibule-cars as now constructed under such circumstances is avoided.

That which I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a car having a vestibule or covered passage-way leading to an adjacent car, of an elastic tubular connection having its edges arranged and secured at an angle to the frame at the open end of the vestibule, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a car havingavestibule or covered passage-way leading to an adjacent car when two cars are coupled together and framework D at the open end of the vestibule, of an elastic connection E, secured to the framework D and having its edges turned outward and secured to the frame D at an angle, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

EDGAR O. ROSA Witnesses:

JOHN L. JACKSON, ALBERT I-I. ADAMS. 

